Connecticut: State Police urge motorists to “slow down and move over’’
Police work is a dangerous job, but one hazard in particular doesn’t get the TV treatment or much public attention.
State Police face a literal brush with death whenever they make motor vehicle stops on the side of busy highways, and seven troopers have been killed in the line of duty over the years at motor vehicle stops.
This week State Police are promoting their “Move Over and Slow Down’’ campaign, urging motorists to slow down and to move into another lane if possible, whenever they see a cruiser with its blue lights flashing, at the side of the road.
Next week they plan to follow up that effort with increased enforcement of a 2009 state law setting a $181 fine for motorists who don’t comply. “The goal is to gain the public’s awareness and compliance of the Move Over Law, and to issue zero tickets,’’ said Trooper FC Kelly Grant, the spokeswoman. “Lives are more important.’’
Last November a Bridgeport man was arrested after his vehicle — traveling at speeds as high as 85 mph — came within inches of hitting four people, including two state troopers, on the shoulder of Interstate 95. Grant described the incident as a “hair-raising experience” in which no one was seriously injured.
The troopers and the drivers of two vehicles were on the side of southbound I-95 after a crash near exit 19. People were standing on the right shoulder when a Nissan Maxima sped by and smashed into one of the vehicles, pushing it across two lanes of the highway.
Yoni Rojas, 21, of Pond Street, Bridgeport, was arrested on charges of reckless endangerment, reckless driving, misuse of plates, failure to maintain a proper lane and failure to meet minimum insurance coverage.
Grant said at the time that the accident “stresses the dangers of being stopped on the highway, even if you are in the shoulder, and one of the many reasons motorists are required to move over when approaching stopped emergency vehicles.”
“It’s something that’s always in the back of my mind,’’ Trooper Carly Topulos said. “This danger is one that the public can help eliminate. I have a husband and three small kids and they need me to come home to them every night.’’
Two in our area were not so fortunate. Auxiliary Trooper Philip Mingione of Milford was killed on May 25, 1994 as he stood outside his vehicle on I-91 in North Haven.
Trooper Jorge Agosto was killed on Nov. 22, 1989 when he was walking along the shoulder of I-95 in Greenwich and a motorist veered off the road and struck him from behind. Agosto, 27, had pulled his cruiser behind another trooper’s to assist in a motor vehicle stop during the Thanksgiving holiday.
Fire engines and ambulances, highway maintenance crews and tow trucks are also covered in the state “move over’’ law, officials said.
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